The McKinleyville girls kept their slender hopes of a Big 5 softball championship alive with a doubleheader sweep at Arcata on Saturday.

The Panthers won the opener 6-0 and took game two by a score of 10-4, and they closed out conference play with a record of 8-4.

To win the championship, however, the Panthers will need the Arcata Tigers (2-7) in the Big 5) to take at least two out of three games against Del Norte (7-2) this week and the Eureka Loggers (1-8) to win at least one out of three games against Fortuna (6-3).

Regardless of their conference championship hopes, the Panthers have qualified for next week’s H-DNL Charles Lakin postseason tournament, which will be played at the Arcata Sports Complex, beginning on Tuesday.

Sophomore McKennah Sargent led the way in game one on Saturday, finishing 2-for-3 with an RBI and pitching all seven innings for the win the circle.

Sargent gave up just two hits and four walks and struck out seven.

Liana Stumpf and Taylor Wade each also made some noise at the plate and finished 2-for-4, with Stumpf hitting a double and Wade driving in a run.

Hannah McCullough also was 1-for-4, while Leah Circe also drove in a run.

Abby Tyner and Alli Mitchell each had a hit for Arcata, while sophomore Riley Houston had a good game in the circle and “pitched well enough to get the win,” according to her head coach Steve Sarchett.

The problem for the Tigers was too many stranded runners, with eight left on base.

“We had our chances, but just couldn’t cash in,” Sarchett said. “We were getting runners on almost every inning, but the key hit eluded us all day.”

The Panthers carried the momentum into game two, with Bailee Box leading the way at the plate and finishing 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBIs.

Check out video highlights of Box’s home run above …

Callyn McCullough also impressed in a 14-hit team performance and was 3-for-3 with two doubles, while Circe finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and Sargent was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

File photo

Liana Stumpf (1-for-2, two RBIs), Liz Mengel (1-for-2, RBI) and Jessie Driggs (1-for-3) each also had a hit in the win.

Mashell Stumpf got the start in the circle and allowed three hits and four walks in four innings while striking out two on her way to the win, before Erika Locker came in to close out the game, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out three.

Freshman pitcher Shia Sarchett got the start for Arcata and threw two innings before Houston took over and closed out the game.

Stranding runners unfortunately continued to be a problem for the Tigers, who left nine on base.

“Again, the hits with runners on base eluded us,” Steve Sarchett said. 

A young Tigers team, however, played some pretty good defense and only had only one error.

“The team is getting better every day,” Steve Sarchett said. “The future is brought for this team.”

Sophomore Jessica Kaber had two hits and two RBIs in the loss, while freshman teammate Kloe Bryant had her first high school base hit in the seventh inning.

File photo – Kloe Bryant, right, got her first high school hit in the seventh inning of game two on Saturday.

File photo – Bailey Brown

McKinleyville 17, Eureka 0, 5 innings

McKinleyville 7, Eureka 4

The  Panthers continued to build momentum ahead of the postseason on Monday and swept a non-conference doubleheader against Eureka.

Box continued to shine in a 17-0 win and finished 3-for-4 with a double, three runs and two RBIs.

So too did Sargent, who was 2-for-3 with three RBIs, and Mengel, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs.

Liana Stumpf added a double to round out an eight-hit team performance.

Sargent pitched all five innings for the win in the circle and gave up just two hits and two walks and struck out six.

Bailey Brown (1-for-3) and Nashya Williams (1-for-2) had Eureka’s only hits of the game.

The other game on Monday was much closer, with the Loggers out-hitting the Panthers 9-8.

However, the Panthers rallied from a 4-2 deficit with five runs in the fifth and sixth innings to secure the victory.

File photo – Kaitlin Giacone

Liana Stumpf capped a big day by going 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs, while McCullough was 2-for-3 with a home run, a double and two RBIs.

Mashell Stumpf (2-for-3, RBI) and Mengel (1-for-2) rounded out an eight-hit team performance.

Kaitlin Giacone and Violla Kingsang led the Loggers with two hits apiece.

Giacone was 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run, while Kingsang went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Cassandra Breazeal (1-for-4), Mallorie Beauchamp (1-for-4), Jaycee Childress (1-for-1) and Williams (1-for-3) rounded out a nine-hit team performance as seven different Eureka players hit successfully.

Mashell Stumpf and Sargent combined in the circle for the Panthers, with the latter throwing four innings of one-hit ball and striking out four for the win.

Giacone threw all six innings for the Loggers and struck out seven while giving up four walks.